250 firefighters battle bushfire near Monarto Zoo overnight

With temperatures in Adelaide reaching 31 degrees at 5:00am this morning, volunteer firefighters were faced with difficult overnight conditions to control the fire in.

CFS Incident controller Mark Thomason told 891 Breakfast at 7:00am the fire was still going, but fighters were confident of containing the fire with mineral fire breaks established on the eastern, southern and northern sectors .

"The only area where we are trying to focus on today is the western area of the fire," Mark Thomason said.

"It is adjacent to Rockleigh Road."

Blaze activity

The CFS was first alerted to the bushfire at around 12:30pm yesterday.

Up to 165 CFS volunteers were supported by DEWNR firefighters, plant operators and local land holders, with three water bombers and a helicopter providing air support.

"We were fortunate not to have the wind change come in overnight," Mr Thomason said.

Monarto Zoo was placed on alert, with staff members herding animals into protected areas.

"Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR)have a strike team of firefighting resources staged at the Monarto Zoo and we had some intelligence that a farmer had burned a large area of stubble paddocks north of Monarto Zoo two days before hand."

Monarto Zoo team leader Geoff Brooks said the Zoo were quick to respond to the threat with a corporate Bushfire Plan quickly enacted.

"We have sprinklers on a lot of our enclosures, so we went through and turned everything on and we had people come in to box up what we could move, like our native animals, some of more of the endangered Aussie animals."

Mr Brooks said the animals had become aware of the fire, due to the localised smoke, but none appeared spooked by the events.

"I was watching the giraffe and the giraffe definitely noticed smoke; they all stand and look towards it."

Staff were on site until 10:30pm last night before being given the all clear.

Temperatures are beginning to fall ahead of the cool change and bank of thunderstorms crossing the state.

Rain may also aid and hinder their efforts to extinguish the fire, with wet conditions expected to make local unsealed roads too slippery for fire truck to travel on.

The bushfire is still classified as out of control, and moving slowly west.

Local roads, including Talbots Road, had been closed due to fallen trees and remaining risks, with motorists advised to avoid the area.